Celebratory Voices Honor Women's Day
At the second annual International Women's Day event, the celebration included original works and performances of music, poetry, stories and dances by women from diverse backgrounds and cultures. There was also an information and petition corner to help in furthering the rights of women. During the reception, while savoring a variety of hors d'oeuvres, the attendees enjoyed the African rhythms and songs performed by the ConunDRUMS, an all-female percussion group.
With all the available chairs taken, the guests settled down to watch a number of artists from Burma, Colombia, Uruguay, Africa, and different parts of the U.S. and India. Manorma Pandit, who has been widely published in India, read her poetry both in Hindi and English. Alka Roy performed an original dance-poetry piece called 'Kali & I'. After an R&B song by Carolyn Morris entitled 'Women of the New Century', the evening moved on to the 'open mike' session. Several poets, singers and dancers took advantage of the opportunity to get on the stage and share their words and talents.
Alka Roy, the event coordinator, founded Celebration of Women's Voices (CWV) in 1997 while she was living in Indianapolis. This year's event was supported by organizations such as Raksha, IPN and the Association of India's Development (AID). International Women's Day originated in 1910 at a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was established to honor the movement for women's rights, including the right to vote.
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
